LETTER FROM CANBERRA Saving you time. Since 1994. A monthly newsletter distilling public policy and government decisions which affect business opportunities in Victoria, Australia and beyond. Christmas Edition 9 November to 18 December 2010 Issue 30 INSIDE High Court & Christmas Island The Murray water. And rain Broadband not moving fully fast yet Our new ABC new Our Behind wikileaks Election State Victorian TV sport TV Climate change moves a bit the on accurate most Poll Morgan - p11 Bank reforms... Bank That mining tax PLUS Bank reforms... PLUS PLUS tax mining That Gillard (46%, up 2%) still preferred as bit a moves change Climate TV sport p11 - Morgan Poll most accurate on the Prime MinisterVictorian over State Abbott Election (39% , up 3%) wikileaks Behind Our new ABC Broadband not moving fully fast yet fast fully moving not Broadband The Murray water. And rain And water. Murray The High Court & Christmas Island Christmas & Court High INSIDE Issue 30 Issue 9 November to 18 December 2010 December 18 to November 9 Edition Christmas Saving you time. Since 1994. A monthly newsletter distilling public policy and government decisions which affect business opportunities in Victoria, Australia and beyond. and Australia Victoria, in opportunities business affect which decisions government and policy public distilling newsletter monthly A 1994. Since time. you Saving LETTER FROM CANBERRA FROM LETTER 9 NOVEMBER to 18 DECEMBER 2010 14 Collins Street Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia P 03 9654 1300 F 03 9654 1165 [email protected] www.letterfrommelbourne.com.au EDITORIAL: Our very busy political year. Challenges for the PM Editor Alistair Urquhart A very busy year in Australian politics remains very busy until the very end. The broadband legislation Associate Editor Hamish Brooks Subscription Manager Juliette Biegler passed through the parliament, but watch this space as the implimentation proceeds with community and Advertising Manager Eddie Mior business challenges. We have had wikileaks which has brought foreign affairs to the top of our Index for Editorial Consultant Rick Brown this issue. The Christmas Island drownings calls for clarification on refugee issues, which had been sort Design Steph Dang of put on the back-burner. The miners are now back with clarification of their tax demands. And industrial relations will be more heavily in the news in 2011, which will include the Opposition’s view(s). Letter From Melbourne is a monthly public affairs A quietish climate change summit in Cancun, in Mexico, probably achieved more than at the equivalent bulletin, a simple précis, distilling and interpreting public policy and government decisions, which affect meeting in Copenhagen a year ago. But gives plenty of challenge for the government and the other business opportunities in Victoria and Australia. Opposition and the independents and Green(s). Written for the regular traveller, or people with The prime minister has declared and set a high bar for achievements, for bring many matters to a resolution, meeting-filled days, you only have to miss reading the The Age or The Herald Sun twice a week to need in 2011. Almost as soon as she said that, the chairman of the Murray Darling Basin Authority resigned, Letter From Melbourne. It’s more about business adding another serious task for the federal government to tackle. Taylor is a serious long term state and opportunities (or lack of them) than politics. It’s not federal public servant, in particular having headed both agriculture and Infrastructure at a federal level, Crikey.com. We keep the words to a minimum. and he says that the recent political demands of water, to include community and business, does not fit in Letter From Melbourne is independent. It’s not party with the clear environmental focus of the Water Act which governed/governs the inquiry that he chaired. political or any other political. It does not have the imprimatur of government at any level. The Victorian election has raised the spectre of federal state relations, specifically in regard to the hospital reform and the new national education curriculum. COAG (Council of Australian Goverments) has a been For context. It includes events and people and society, and the weather if that is important. in the news for lack of activity over the past year. Which raises the consideration of the New South Wales election in March, with even more states to challenge Canberra on quite a few issues. Increasingly, Letter From Melbourne is developing a federal and national coverage and also an increasing And the banks have been a hot topic of conversation all month, with federal treasurer Wayne Swan looking synopsis of national business issues. at how to increase competition. Also, Oprah’s been in town and a lot of politicians have made the effort to The only communications tool of its type, Letter give her a hug. And it’s been raining. From Melbourne keeps subscribers abreast of recent developments in the policy arena on a local, state and The word curdling could come to mind if one mused on the range of topics which are before the federal federal level. government to finesse or resolve with the independents and Greens, the Liberal/National states and some You can read it on a flight from Melbourne once a internal disagreements within the Labor Party, both federally and at the state level. Other distractions will month or with a good cup of coffee. include gay marriage and nuclear power. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to our hard copy subscribers, our more general email readership, ADVERTISE WITH US our panel of experts and our other supporters. The perfect platform to attract the attention of the INDEX who’s who of Melbourne’s IN APPROXIMATE ORDER OF INTEREST OVER THE PAST MONTH public and private sector. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 3 CLIMATE CHANGE. ENVIRONMENT. ENERGY 19 for a copy of our media kit or information regarding IMMIGRATION 4 RESOURCES 19 advertising with LETTER FROM MELBOURNE BROADBAND. ITC 6 BUSINESS. ECONOMY. TAX 20 please contact Alistair Urquhart BANKS 7 INFRASTRUCTURE 21 [email protected] +61 3 9654 1300 AGRICULTURE & WATER 9 JUSTICE 21 MEDIA 9 DEFENCE 22 Published by A.B Urquhart & Company Pty Ltd trading as Affairs EDUCATION 14 COALITION DOINGS 22 of State. Disclaimer: Material in this publication is general comment and not intended as advice on any particular matter. HEALTH 15 SOCIETY 23 Professional advice should be sought before action is taken. GOVERNANCE 15 APPOINTMENTS. JOBS. TENDERS 23 Material is complied from various sources including newspaper articles, press releases, government publications, Hansard, trade INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 18 journals, etc. © This newsletter is copyright. No part may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission from the publisher. Affairs of State respects your WANTED. SENSIBLE UNIVERSITY STUDENT, MAYBE WITH A BACKGROUND IN POLITICS OR LAW, WITH SOME privacy. While we do believe that the information contained in Letter from Melbourne will be useful to you, please advise us if FREE TIME, PART-TIME, OVER SUMMER FOR A BRIEF BUT INFORMATIVE INTERNSHIP. 03 9654 1300 you do not wish to receive any further communications from us. 2 LETTER FROM CANBERRA diplomatic cables, declaring that attempts to silence him doubts about Australia’s ability to pay for its biggest FOREIGN AFFAIRS and WikiLeaks are pointless. military buildup since World War II, after one of Canberra’s most senior defence officials was unable to explain how A Wiki man Who would have thunk it? costings in the defence white paper were made. Defence WikiLeaks founder, Australian Julian Assange, 39, has Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is an abrasive, impulsive Minister Stephen Smith conceded his department and the been detained in a British prison following rape allegations control freak who presided over a series of foreign policy government must get better value for the big spending on made against him in Sweden. Of his alleged crimes, many blunders during his time as prime minister, according military hardware. diplomats and heads of state would consider this to be minor to leaked United States diplomatic cables. The scathing in comparison to the 250,000 US cables his organisation assessment – detailed in messages sent by the US embassy China calling was feeding to the media throughout December. As The in Canberra to Secretaries of State, Condoleeza Rice and As many as four Cabinet ministers visited China in Age put it: Attorney-General Robert McClelland criticised Hillary Clinton over several years – are among hundreds of November. Treasurer Wayne Swan was one of them. His Assange’s leaking of the documents as potentially life US State Department cables relating to Australia obtained visit came after the Treasury Department set up a high-level endangering and incredibly irresponsible and reprehensible. by WikiLeaks and made available to The Age, from which ‘China unit’ to boost its capacity to analyse and engage with Government authorities around the world have been working this item is taken. Australia’s largest trading partner. The ministerial visits and overtime to determine if Assange could be charged with a the new push within Treasury will go some way to alleviating crime related to the leaks. The WikiLeaks website has Faceless man what Australian analysts and business people say has been battled to stay online as governments in several countries The Age reported, citing another WikiLeaked cable, a major vacuum in government policy-making on China, tried to block it. Let it be very clear. The main naughty that Sports Minister Mark Arbib has been revealed as The Age reported. The Australian reported that Swan person is the American government person who actually a confidential contact of the United States embassy in signed up to a US attack on China’s currency management, leaked the information to the wikileak organisation.